Wild Muscovy Duck - and now for something completely different.

Left - my photo.  Right:  taken from:  https://gvzoo.com/animals/domestic-muscovy-duck

Native to Central and South America, the Muscovy duck has been domesticated and bred across much of the world.  Wild populations differ markedly from domesticated ones, as you can see in the above image.  It's interesting that this bird can be found in its ancestral form.  What's odd is that the bird is often left out of field guides because many individuals are considered farm animals and not wild stock.  I suppose it would be like putting cows in a book on the mammals of North America.

However, there are wild populations of Muscovy ducks that retain their ancestral DNA - they have never been domesticated, as the one I photographed above while visiting Guatemala this year.  It is fairly easy to differentiate between the two groups.

We don't see wild Muscovy ducks in the north because they are not adapted to cold winters.  They can fly, but only for short distances, and generally stay within a small area, often only a few square miles.  Wild birds use tree cavities as nesting sites and can easily perch on branches.  Males are twice the size of females and have sharp claws used in both perching and defending territory or themselves.  

Domesticated Muscovy ducks are kept for a multitude of reasons.  They are large ducks, have rich meat, are protective of their environments, and don't make a lot of noise.  What's especially interesting is that they eat a lot of insects and pests, including small mammals such as mice.  It was found that fly populations are reduced by 80% around farm animals when Muscovy ducks are present.

The word "Muscovy" is thought to come from the English company of the same name that first brought the birds to Britain.  There are a few other theories as well, but nothing that is certain.  Regardless of where its name comes from, you have to give the bird credit.  It is certainly different.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com